Mayan Lowlands

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Mayan Lowlands
Maya Lowlands
Map of the Maya area of Mesoamerica.tif
The Mayan Lowlands / prominent rivers and some settlements labelled / 2019 map by Inomata et al. / via PLOS
Mesoamerica topographic map-blank.svg
Red pog.svg
Mayan Lowlands
Coordinates: 18°06′33″N89°52′14″W / 18.109030123697906°N 89.8704880046714°W / 18.109030123697906; -89.8704880046714 Coordinates: 18°06′33″N89°52′14″W / 18.109030123697906°N 89.8704880046714°W / 18.109030123697906; -89.8704880046714
Location Belize, northern Guatemala, northwestern Honduras, southeastern Mexico
Part of Mayan Region of Mesoamerica
Area
 • Total106,800 sq mi (277,000 km2)a
Dimensions
 • Length460 mi (740 km)b
 • Width400 mi (640 km)b
Highest elevation
(Doyle's Delight)
3,688 ft (1,124 m)
Sub-divisions
  • Northern
  • Central
  • Southern
a cf [note 1]
b cf [note 2]

The Maya or Mayan Lowlands are the largest of three common first-order sub-divisions of the Mayan Region of Mesoamerica. [note 3]

Contents

Extent

The Mayan Lowlands are restricted by the Gulf of Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Mayan Highlands to the south and west. [1] The precise northern and eastern limits of the Lowlands are widely agreed upon, being formed by conspicuous bodies of water. [2] Their southern and western limits, however, are not precisely fixed, as these are restricted by 'subtle environmental changes or transitions from one zone [the Highlands] to another [the Lowlands],' rather than conspicuous geographic features. [3] [note 4]

The Lowlands fully encompass Belize, the Guatemalan department of Peten, and the Mexican states of Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo. [4] [5] They may further partially encompass a number of northerly Guatemalan departments, northwesterly Honduran departments, and southeasterly Mexican states. [4] [5] [note 5]

Divisions

The Lowlands are usually sub-divided either into northern and southern regions, or into northern, central, and southern regions. [6] [7] [8] [note 6] As with the Lowlands–Highlands border, the boundaries of the Lowlands' internal sub-divisions are not precisely fixed, being rather formed by gradual environmental or climatic transitions. [6] [note 7]

Northern

The Northern Lowlands are generally characterised by relatively low rainfall and high temperatures, typically ranging within 20–80 inches (510–2,030 mm) per annum and 77–95 °F (25–35 °C), respectively. [9] Their rainy season typically lasts six or seven months during June–December, with a subsequent six- or five-month dry season. [9] Their terrain is predominated by tropical forests in the south, gradually giving way to low bush-and-scrub forests in the north. [9] Prominent bodies of water include Lake Bacalar and various cenotes . [10] Prominent groupings of archaeological sites within the Northern Lowlands include the Northern Plains, the East Coast, the Puuc, and the Chenes sites. [7]

The Northern Lowlands generally encompass portions of Campeche, Yucatán, and Quintana Roo in Mexico. [11] [note 8]

Central

The Central Lowlands are generally characterised by relatively low rainfall and high temperatures, typically ranging about 80 inches (2,000 mm) per annum and 77–95 °F (25–35 °C), respectively. [12] Their rainy season typically lasts eight-and-a-half months, from mid-May to January, with a subsequent dry season of three-and-a-half months, from February to mid-May. [12] Their terrain is predominated by low east–west ridges of folded and faulted limestone, covered by tropical forests, grasslands, and wetlands. [12] Prominent bodies of water include the Hondo, New, and Belize Rivers and their tributaries, and a roughly 910 square miles (2,400 km2) drainage basin in central Peten housing some fourteen lakes, the largest of which is Lake Peten Itza. [13] Prominent groupings of archaeological sites within the Central Lowlands include the Belize River Valley and the Central Peten Lakes. [14]

The Central Lowlands generally encompass portions of Peten in Guatemala, Campeche and Quintana Roo in Mexico, and Cayo, Belize [District], Orange Walk, and Corozal in Belize. [15] [note 9]

Southern

The Southern Lowlands are generally characterised by relatively high rainfall and temperatures, typically ranging within 80–120 inches (2,000–3,000 mm) per annum and 77–95 °F (25–35 °C), respectively. [16] [17] Their rainy season ranges between nine and eleven months, with the dry season compressed to three months or fewer, with the latter typically occurring during March–May. [16] [note 10] Their terrain ranges from broken karst topography, predominated by rain-forest and limestone formations, to low-lying coastal topography, predominated by swamps. [16] [17] Prominent bodies of water within the Southern Lowlands, which often feature relatively deep and fertile soils, include the Usumacinta River and its tributaries, the Sarstoon River, Lake Izabal, the Rio Dulce, the alluvial valley of the lower Motagua, and the Chamelecon and Ulua Rivers. [18] [17] Prominent groupings of archaeological sites within the Southern Lowlands include the Southern Belize Region. [19]

The Southern Lowlands generally encompass portions of Chiapas, Tabasco, and Campeche in Mexico, Huehuetenango, El Quiche, Alta Verapaz, Izabal, and Peten in Guatemala, Cayo, Stann Creek, and Toledo in Belize, and Cortes, Santa Barbara, and Copan in Honduras. [20] [note 11]

Geography

Physical

The Lowlands are generally characterised by elevations below 2,625 feet (800 m) and a tropical climate. [21] [note 12] They are predominantly covered by evergreen tropical forests, which tend to grow taller and denser in the southern Lowlands, given increased rainfall in this area, compared to the northern Lowlands, which experience relatively less rainfall. [21] [22] The climate of the eastern coasts is made relatively warmer and more humid by the Atlantic North Equatorial Current and the Gulf Stream. [23]

Geology

Morphology

Provinces

The Lowlands are thought to fully or partially encompass at least eleven geologic provinces. [24] [25] [note 13] Notably, the northern and central Lowlands 'encompass the most extensive karstlands of the North American continent' i.e. the Yucatán Platform. [26]

Geologic provinces within the Mayan Lowlands per 21st century literature. [24] [25] [note 14]
USGS No.NameLocationNotes
5308Yucatán Platformnorthern Lowlands–
6117Greater Antilles Deformed Beltoffshore Lowlands–
6120Cayman Troughsouthern Lowlands–
6125Maya Mountainscentral Lowlands–
5305Villahermosa Upliftwestern Lowlands–
5306Macuspana Basinwestern Lowlands–
5304Saline–Comalcalco Basinwestern Lowlands–
5302Veracruz Basinwestern Lowlands–
5303Tuxla Upliftwestern Lowlands–
5311Chiapas Massifwestern Lowlands–
5310Sierra Madre de Chiapas–Peten Foldbeltsouthern Lowlands–

Basins

The Lowlands are believed to fully or partially comprehend at least four sedimentary basins. [27]

Sedimentary basins within the Mayan Lowlands per 21st century literature. [27] [note 15]
Evenick IDNameLocationNotes
119Campechenorthern Lowlands–
519Peten–Corozalcentral Lowlands–
757Yucatánnorthern Lowlands–
647Surestewestern Lowlands–

Tectonics

The Lowlands lie wholly within the Maya Block of the North American Plate. [28] [29] [30] They notably house the Ticul Fault to the north, the Rio Hondo, Yucatán Channel, and Maya Mountain Faults to the east, and a portion of the Motagua–Polochic Fault Zone to the south. [31]

Stratigraphy

In the northern and central Lowlands, encompassed within the Yucatán Platform, mean crustal thickness increases from 12–16 miles (20–25 km) in the north to 19–25 miles (30–40 km) in the south. [32] These portions of the Lowlands are blanketed by a carbonate sedimentary cover reaching a mean thickness of up to some 4 miles (6 km). [32]

Notes and references

Explanatory footnotes

  1. ↑ As per Sharer & Traxler 2006, p. 24 within 100 sq mi (260 km2) accuracy. Adams & Macleod 2000a, p. 201 demarcate the Lowlands to roughly 104,400 sq mi (270,000 km2).
  2. ↑ As per Sharer & Traxler 2006, p. 24 within 10 mi (16 km) accuracy. Adams & Macleod 2000b, p. 346 give length and width as 'more than' 404 mi (650 km) and 'about' 280 mi (450 km), respectively. Wallace 2020, p. 17 gives length and width as about 447 mi (719 km) and about 388 mi (624 km), respectively.
  3. ↑ The three commonly-given first-order sub-divisions of the Mayan Region being, from north to south, the Lowlands, Highlands, and Pacific Coastal Plain (Sharer & Traxler 2006, pp. 24, 30). However, Adams & Macleod 2000a, p. 200 assert that the Mayan Region 'has traditionally been divided into three major physical zones: the northern lowlands, southern lowlands, and highlands (including the Pacific slope); or in some schemes, northern, central and southern regions.'
  4. ↑ The transition from the Mayan Highlands to the Lowlands has been described as 'gradual' (Sharer & Traxler 2006, p. 41). Rough demarcations are nonetheless attempted in literature. For instance, Wallace 2020, p. 16 fixes the southern and western limits as being just above (or on the foothills of) 'the volcanic mountain ranges of Guatemala and Chiapas.' Adams & Macleod 2000b, p. 346 fix them as a line (i) encompassing Cholan Mayan speakers (ii) running from eastern Tabasco, through eastern Chiapas, into Alta Verapaz, and up to northwestern Honduras.
  5. ↑ For instance, the Lowlands as characterised by Adams & Macleod 2000b, p. 346 encompass 'eastern Tabasco, the lowland tropical forests of eastern Chiapas, [...] parts of Alta Verapaz, Guatemala, and [part of] northwestern Honduras.'
  6. ↑ Some literature gives the Northern and Southern Lowlands as first-order, rather than second-order, sub-divisions of the Mayan Region (Adams & Macleod 2000a, p. 200).
  7. ↑ Rough demarcations are nonetheless attempted in literature. For instance, Wallace 2020, p. 16 (using only two internal sub-divisions) fixes the North–South border as 'a roughly straight line between the Bay of Chetumal in the east and the Laguna de Terminos in the west.' Adams & Macleod 2000b, p. 352 (using the same sub-divisions) fix it as 'a line drawn from Champotón (formerly Chanputun) on the Gulf [of Mexico] Coast to the Bahía de la Ascención on the Caribbean [Sea].'
  8. ↑ In literature which only sub-divides the Mayan Lowlands into northern and southern portions, omitting a central portion, the Northern Lowlands may further encompass portions of Peten in Guatemala, Campeche and Quintana Roo in Mexico, and Cayo, Belize [District], Orange Walk, and Corozal in Belize (eg as in Carrasco 2006, article 'Northern Maya Lowlands' para. 1).
  9. ↑ Some literature only sub-divides the Mayan Lowlands into northern and southern portions, omitting a central portion (eg as in Carrasco 2006, article 'Mesoamerica' para. 6). Furthermore, some literature rather characterises the Central Lowlands as encompassing 'most of the Petén, Belize, and usually the Río Bec region of southern Campeche' (Carrasco 2006, article 'Northern Maya Lowlands' para. 1).
  10. ↑ Carrasco 2006, article 'Southern Maya Lowlands' para. 3 give the Southern Lowlands' wet season as occurring during late-May–November, implying a December–mid-May dry season, in contrast to the March–May dry season asserted by Sharer & Traxler 2006, p. 45. However, the extent of the Southern Lowlands as given by Carrasco 2006, article 'Southern Maya Lowlands' para. 1 differs from that given by Sharer & Traxler 2006, p. 24.
  11. ↑ In literature which only sub-divides the Mayan Lowlands into northern and southern portions, omitting a central portion, the Southern Lowlands may further encompass portions of Peten in Guatemala, Campeche and Quintana Roo in Mexico, and Cayo, Belize [District], Orange Walk, and Corozal in Belize (eg as in Carrasco 2006, article 'Southern Maya Lowlands' para. 1 and Carrasco 2006, article 'Northern Maya Lowlands' para. 1).
  12. ↑ As opposed to a generally temperate or cold climate experienced in elevations above 2,625 feet (800 m) in the rest of the Mayan Region (Sharer & Traxler 2006, p. 30). The Maya Mountains, commonly included within the Lowlands, nonetheless feature elevations above 2,625 feet (800 m) (Sharer & Traxler 2006, p. 46, Carrasco 2006, article 'Southern Maya Lowlands' para. 1).
  13. ↑ Alternative divisions of the Lowlands into geologic provinces have been offered, for instance, by Bundschuh & Alvarado 2012, p. 77, fig. 3.1.
  14. ↑ USGS No. is the unique USGS province number as per French & Schenk 2004 and French & Schenk 2006.
  15. ↑ Evenick ID is the unique basin identifier ie UBI as per Evenick 2021, app. A supp. no. 1.

Short citations

  1. ↑ Sharer & Traxler 2006, pp. 24, 26–28.
  2. ↑ Sharer & Traxler 2006, p. 26.
  3. ↑ Sharer & Traxler 2006, p. 30.
  4. 1 2 Sharer & Traxler 2006, pp. 24, 41–42.
  5. 1 2 Adams & Macleod 2000b, p. 346.
  6. 1 2 Sharer & Traxler 2006, pp. 24, 45.
  7. 1 2 Carrasco 2006, article 'Northern Maya Lowlands' para. 1.
  8. ↑ Wallace 2020, pp. 16–17.
  9. 1 2 3 Sharer & Traxler 2006, p. 49.
  10. ↑ Sharer & Traxler 2006, pp. 51–52.
  11. ↑ Sharer & Traxler 2006, pp. 24, 49.
  12. 1 2 3 Sharer & Traxler 2006, p. 46.
  13. ↑ Sharer & Traxler 2006, pp. 46–47.
  14. ↑ Braswell 2022, pp. 31, 213.
  15. ↑ Sharer & Traxler 2006, pp. 24, 46–47.
  16. 1 2 3 Sharer & Traxler 2006, p. 45.
  17. 1 2 3 Carrasco 2006, article 'Southern Maya Lowlands' para. 1.
  18. ↑ Sharer & Traxler 2006, pp. 45–46.
  19. ↑ Braswell 2022, p. 79.
  20. ↑ Sharer & Traxler 2006, pp. 24, 45–46.
  21. 1 2 Sharer & Traxler 2006, p. 42.
  22. ↑ Adams & Macleod 2000b, pp. 351–352.
  23. ↑ Bundschuh & Alvarado 2012, p. 2.
  24. 1 2 French & Schenk 2004.
  25. 1 2 French & Schenk 2006.
  26. ↑ Bundschuh & Alvarado 2012, p. 81.
  27. 1 2 Evenick 2021, pp. 4, 6 and app. A supp. no. 1.
  28. ↑ Bundschuh & Alvarado 2012, p. 3, fig. 1.1.
  29. ↑ Ross et al. 2021, p. 243, fig. 1.
  30. ↑ Martens 2009, pp. 6–9.
  31. ↑ Bundschuh & Alvarado 2012, p. 285, fig. 11.5.
  32. 1 2 Bundschuh & Alvarado 2012, p. 284.

Full citations

Print

  1. Adams, Richard E. W.; Macleod, Murdo J., eds. (2000a). Mesoamerica, Part 1 . The Cambridge history of the native peoples of the Americas. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521351652. ISBN   9781139053778. S2CID   163512332.
  2. Adams, Richard E. W.; Macleod, Murdo J., eds. (2000b). Mesoamerica, Part 2 . The Cambridge history of the native peoples of the Americas. Vol. 2. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CHOL9780521652049. ISBN   9781139053464.
  3. Braswell, Geoffrey E., ed. (2022). 3,000 Years of War and Peace in the Maya Lowlands : Identity, Politics, and Violence . Routledge archaeology of the ancient Americas. London: Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781351268004. ISBN   9781351268004. S2CID   246542762.
  4. Bundschuh, Jochen; Alvarado, Guillermo E., eds. (2012) [First published 2007]. Central America : Geology, Resources and Hazards (Reprint of 1st ed.). London: Taylor & Francis. doi:10.1201/9780203947043. ISBN   9780429074370. OCLC   905983675.
  5. Carrasco, Davíd, ed. (2006) [First published 2001]. The Oxford Encyclopedia of Mesoamerican Cultures : The Civilisations of Mexico and Central America (Online reprint of 1st print ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195108156.001.0001. ISBN   9780195188431.
  6. Gómez-Pompa, Arturo; Allen, Michael F.; Fedick, Scott L.; Jiménez-Osornio, Juan J., eds. (2003). The Lowland Maya Area: Three Millennia at the Human-Wildland Interface. Binghamton, NY: Food Products Press. ISBN   1560229705. OCLC   50725221.
  7. Nairn, Alan E. M.; Stehli, Francis G., eds. (1975). The Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean. The Ocean Basins and Margins. Vol. 3. New York: Springer. doi:10.1007/978-1-4684-8535-6. ISBN   978-1-4684-8537-0.
  8. Pohl, Mary DeLand, ed. (1990). Ancient Maya wetland agriculture : excavations on Albion Island, Northern Belize. Westview special studies in archaeological research. Boulder, CO: Westview Press. hdl:2027/txu.059173017866398. ISBN   081337202X. OCLC   15421978.
  9. Sharer, Robert J.; Traxler, Loa P., eds. (2006) [First published 1946]. The Ancient Maya (6th ed.). Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press. hdl:2027/mdp.39015062626216. OCLC   57577446.
  10. UISPP, ed. (2020). Different Times? : Archaeological and environmental data from intra-site and off-site sequences : proceedings of the XVIII UISPP World Congress (4-9 June 2018, Paris, France) : Volume 4, Session II-8. Archaeopress archaeology. Oxford: Archaeopress Publishing. ISBN   9781789696516. OCLC   1154813259.
  11. Woods, Charles A.; Sergile, Florence E., eds. (2001) [First published 1989 in Gainesville, FL by Sandhill Crane Press]. Biogeography of the West Indies : patterns and perspectives (2nd revised ed.). Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. ISBN   0849320011. OCLC   46240352.

Journals

  1. Beach, Tim; Luzzadder-Beach, Sheryl; Dunning, Nicholas; Jones, John; Lohse, Jon; Guderjan, Tom; Bozarth, Steve; Millspaugh, Sarah; Bhattacharya, Tripti (August 2009). "A review of human and natural changes in Maya Lowland wetlands over the Holocene" . Quaternary Science Reviews. 28 (17–18): 1710–1724. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2009.02.004.
  2. Brenner, Mark (6 July 2022). "Classics revisited/from the archive Mayan Urbanism: Impact on a Tropical Karst Environment". Progress in Physical Geography: Earth and Environment. doi:10.1177/03091333221112360.
  3. Brenner, Mark; Rosenmeier, Michael F.; Hodell, David A.; Curtis, Jason H. (14 August 2002). "Paleolimnology of the Maya Lowlands: Long-term perspectives on interactions among climate, environment, and humans" . Ancient Mesoamerica. 13 (1): 141–157. doi:10.1017/S0956536102131063. S2CID   62887180.
  4. Evenick, J. C. (2021). "Glimpses into Earth's history using a revised global sedimentary basin map". Earth-Science Reviews. article no. 103564. 215 (sn): 103564. Bibcode:2021ESRv..21503564E. doi:10.1016/j.earscirev.2021.103564. S2CID   233950439.
  5. Hoggarth, Julie A.; Restall, Matthew; Wood, James W.; Kennett, Douglas J. (February 2017). "Drought and Its Demographic Effects in the Maya Lowlands" . Current Anthropology. 58 (1): 82–113. doi:10.1086/690046. S2CID   151904763.
  6. Metcalfe, Sarah E.; Holmes, Jonathan A.; Jones, Matthew D.; Gonzalez, Roger Medina; Primmer, Nicholas J.; Martinez Dyrzo, Haydar; Davies, Sarah J.; Lenge, Melanie J. (15 April 2022). "Response of a low elevation carbonate lake in the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico) to climatic and human forcings" . Quaternary Science Reviews. 282: 1–18 of article no. 107445. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107445. S2CID   247514101.
  7. Ross, C. H.; Stockli, D. F.; Rasmussen, C.; Gulick, S. P. S.; Graaff, S. J.; Claeys, P.; Zhao, J. (2021). "Evidence of Carboniferous arc magmatism preserved in the Chicxulub impact structure" . Geological Society of America Bulletin. 134 (1–2): 241–260. doi:10.1130/B35831.1. S2CID   238043996.
  8. Shrock, R. R. (1945). "Karst Features in Maya Region of Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico". Proceedings of the Indiana Academy of Science. 45: 111–116.
  9. Wahl, David; Byrne, Roger; Schreiner, Thomas; Hansen, Richard (May 2006). "Holocene vegetation change in the northern Peten and its implications for Maya prehistory" . Quaternary Research. 65 (3): 380–389. doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2005.10.004. S2CID   128976862.
  10. Wahl, David; Byrne, Roger; Schreiner, Thomas; Hansen, Richard (September 2007). "Palaeolimnological evidence of late-Holocene settlement and abandonment in the Mirador Basin, Peten, Guatemala" . The Holocene. 17 (6): 813–820. doi:10.1177/0959683607080522. S2CID   129244758. ProQuest   220526400.
  11. Walsh, Megan K.; Prufer, Keith M.; Culleton, Brendan J.; Kennett, Douglas J. (20 January 2017). "A late Holocene paleoenvironmental reconstruction from Agua Caliente, southern Belize, linked to regional climate variability and cultural change at the Maya polity of Uxbenká" . Quaternary Research. 82 (1): 38–50. doi:10.1016/j.yqres.2014.01.013. S2CID   128702315.

Other

  1. French, C. D.; Schenk, C. J. (2004). "Map showing geology, oil and gas fields, and geologic provinces of the Caribbean Region". Open-File Report (Report). Open-File Report 97-470-K. Reston, Virg.: U.S. Geological Survey. doi:10.3133/ofr97470K.
  2. French, C. D.; Schenk, C. J. (2006). "Map showing geology, oil and gas fields, and geologic provinces of the Gulf of Mexico region". In French, Christopher D; Schenk, Christopher J (eds.). Open-File Report (Report). Open-File Report 97-470-L. Reston, Virg.: U.S. Geological Survey. doi:10.3133/ofr97470L.
  3. Kirst, K. Kris (14 December 2019). "Maya Lowlands". ThoughtCo. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022.
  4. LACGeo (15 July 2020). "Maya Region: Maya Highlands and Lowlands (Mexico, Central America)". LAC Geographic. Archived from the original on 8 September 2022.
  5. Martens, Uwe (2009). Geologic evolution of the Maya Block (southern edge of the North American plate): An example of terrane transferral and crustal recycling (PhD Thesis). Stanford University. ProQuest   304999167.
  6. Wallace, Geoffrey H. (January 2020). The History and Geography of Beeswax Extraction in the Northern Maya Lowlands, 1540–1700 (MA Thesis). McGill University. ProQuest   28266933.

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Maya stelae are monuments that were fashioned by the Maya civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. They consist of tall, sculpted stone shafts and are often associated with low circular stones referred to as altars, although their actual function is uncertain. Many stelae were sculpted in low relief, although plain monuments are found throughout the Maya region. The sculpting of these monuments spread throughout the Maya area during the Classic Period, and these pairings of sculpted stelae and circular altars are considered a hallmark of Classic Maya civilization. The earliest dated stela to have been found in situ in the Maya lowlands was recovered from the great city of Tikal in Guatemala. During the Classic Period almost every Maya kingdom in the southern lowlands raised stelae in its ceremonial centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maya city</span> Centres of ancient Mayan civilization in Mesoamerica

Maya cities were the centres of population of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization of Mesoamerica. They served the specialised roles of administration, commerce, manufacturing and religion that characterised ancient cities worldwide. Maya cities tended to be more dispersed than cities in other societies, even within Mesoamerica, as a result of adaptation to a lowland tropical environment that allowed food production amidst areas dedicated to other activities. They lacked the grid plans of the highland cities of central Mexico, such as Teotihuacán and Tenochtitlan. Maya kings ruled their kingdoms from palaces that were situated within the centre of their cities. Cities tended to be located in places that controlled trade routes or that could supply essential products. This allowed the elites that controlled trade to increase their wealth and status. Such cities were able to construct temples for public ceremonies, thus attracting further inhabitants to the city. Those cities that had favourable conditions for food production, combined with access to trade routes, were likely to develop into the capital cities of early Maya states.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spanish conquest of Petén</span> Final stage of the conquest of Guatemala

The Spanish conquest of Petén was the last stage of the conquest of Guatemala, a prolonged conflict during the Spanish colonisation of the Americas. A wide lowland plain covered with dense rainforest, Petén contains a central drainage basin with a series of lakes and areas of savannah. It is crossed by several ranges of low karstic hills and rises to the south as it nears the Guatemalan Highlands. The conquest of Petén, a region now incorporated into the modern republic of Guatemala, climaxed in 1697 with the capture of Nojpetén, the island capital of the Itza kingdom, by Martín de Ursúa y Arizmendi. With the defeat of the Itza, the last independent and unconquered native kingdom in the Americas fell to European colonisers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kejache</span>

The Kejache were a Maya people in northern Guatemala at the time of Spanish contact in the 17th century. The Kejache territory was located in the Petén Basin in a region that takes in parts of both Guatemala and Mexico. Linguistic evidence indicates that the Kejache shared a common origin with the neighbouring Itzas to their southeast and the Kejache may have occupied the general region since the Classic period. The Kejache were initially contacted by conquistador Hernán Cortés in 1525; they were later in prolonged contact with the Spanish as the latter opened a route southwards towards Lake Petén Itzá.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Maya civilization</span>

The history of Maya civilization is divided into three principal periods: the Preclassic, Classic and Postclassic periods; these were preceded by the Archaic Period, which saw the first settled villages and early developments in agriculture. Modern scholars regard these periods as arbitrary divisions of chronology of the Maya civilization, rather than indicative of cultural evolution or decadence. Definitions of the start and end dates of period spans can vary by as much as a century, depending on the author. The Preclassic lasted from approximately 3000 BC to approximately 250 AD; this was followed by the Classic, from 250 AD to roughly 950 AD, then by the Postclassic, from 950 AD to the middle of the 16th century. Each period is further subdivided:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Maya Block</span> Tectonic block under the Yucatan Peninsula

The Maya Block, also known as the Maya Terrane, Yucatan Block, or Yucatan‍–‍Chiapas Block, is a physiographic or geomorphic region and tectonic or crustal block in the southernmost portion of the North American Plate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yucatán Platform</span> Yucatán Peninsula and its continental shelf

The Yucatán Platform or Yucatán Shelf is a geologic or physiographic province, and a continental and carbonate platform, in the Maya Block of the southernmost portion of the North American Plate. It comprises the Yucatán Peninsula and its continental shelf, located between the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Preclassic Period in Belize</span> Pre-Columbian period in Mesoamerican history

The Preclassic or Formative Period of Belizean, Mayan, and Mesoamerican history began with the Mayan development of ceramics during 2000 BC – 900 BC, and ended with the advent of Mayan monumental inscriptions in 250 AD.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mayan Region</span> First-order subdivision of Mesoamerica

The Maya or Mayan Region is one of various common first-order sub-divisions of Mesoamerica. Though first settled by Palaeoindians by at least 10,000 BC, it is now most commonly characterised and recognised as the territory which encompassed the Mayan civilisation in the pre-Columbian era.

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